Listening Level : MID ¦ A move

1) STUDY STEPS:
1) Read the questions below
2) Listen to Jackie talking about her new house
3) Answer the questions.
4) Listen again to check your answers
5) Check your answer at bottom of page.
6) Listen again while reading the transcript

2)COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
a) Is the new house close to the train and bus station?
b) What word does Jackie use to say that they have bought something SMALLER than the one they had?
c) Why do they often keep the curtains closed?
d) What type of neighbours do they have?
e) Are houses expensive in the area?
f) Where is the school situated?
g) How many bedrooms does their house have?
h) What room do they rarely use?
i) How many bathrooms do they have?
j) What words does Jackie use to mean SMALLER BUT BETTER?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW WITH ANY QUESTIONS!

TRANSCRIPT

I´ve just moved to a new house in a new city, it´s a much nicer area than we used to live in although it is further away from the train and bus stations …but luckily we have a car.
We´ve downsized as our kids have left home now and live on their own. We used to live in a big house with a front and back garden but our new place is a bungalow so it´s much smaller and definitely cuter. We do still have a garden although it´s more of a patio.
There´s plenty of natural light in the bungalow but we often keep the curtains closed in the evening as now you can see straight in from the street as all the rooms are on the ground floor!
Our new neighbours are much younger than our old ones. There are lots of new families, single people and couples without children. I think most of them must work in the city as they are out all day. It´s the perfect area to buy your first house in as it´s affordable, the buildings are new, there is a forest just behind our street and the local school is in the middle of it! It must be wonderful for the children to go to school in the middle of nature!

Even though we live alone now, we wanted to keep a couple of spare rooms for our son and daughter in case they want to come and visit us as neither our son nor our daughter live in our area. We also have a lot of friends from other areas of the country so they often stay the night if they come to visit us.

We have an open kitchen / dining room. It´s so nice to finally have a space that we can sit in together so I´m not so alone when I cook.

We still have a study, although we rarely use it. We used to have a bathroom on both floors in our old house but there is no need now so we just have one, it´s much bigger and luxurious than our old one however. We´ve downsized but definitely upgraded!

ANSWERS:
1) No, it is further away
2) DOWNSIZED
3) Because you can see into the house from the street in the evening.
4) New families, single people, couples without children.
5) No, they are affordable.
6) In the middle of the forest
7) 3
8) The study
9) 2
10) Downsized but Upgraded